Sr A-I pilot arrested

MUMBAI, August 4: A senior commander of Air-India was arrested by the Air Intelligence Unit AIU of Customs at Sahar airport while smuggling foreign currency today. Further investigations are on to unearth the pilot8217;s possible links with organised smuggling syndicates.

Acting on intelligence reports that senior crew members of airlines operating on sensitive routes were involved in smuggling activities, the customs sleuths intercepted Senior Commander Harinderpal Singh Shergill, who was scheduled to operate flight A-I 670 to Bahrain via Trivandrum and Doha.Initially the commander refused to cooperate with the officials claiming that he was carrying only 4,000. A thorough search revealed that Shergill had cleverly concealed 66,217 equivalent to more than Rs 27.54 lakh in a cloth jacket worn around his waist.

The customs officials stated that even a regular body search could not detect the cleverly wrapped jacket. Shergill later admitted that the currency was given to him by one Yakub Mohammed.